Jasper, Tx- After a gloomy early week forecast, Mother Nature once again cooperated with the young anglers of SETX and allowed 432 teams from 46 high schools to probe the waters of Big Sam in the 4th of 5 events on the Ford SETX HS Championship Trail presented by Skeeter Boats. "We have been pretty fortunate this spring to avoid the damaging storms that have pushed through our region in the past month to 6 weeks", said SETX President Clint Fountain, "our prayers and best wishes go out to those folks along the Sabine and the recently affected Houston area" continued Fountain.
With only one regular season event left on the 2016 schedule, many of the anglers have turned their attention to the coveted Angler's of the Year award. Tournament emcee John Salamone had this to say, "The consistency that some of these teams have shown is remarkable. We have 12-15 teams who still have a shot at winning this. These teams are consistently bringing in five fish in the 14-18 lb range, and that is what it takes to compete for the AOY trophy", concluded Salamone.
Tackle Addict First Place Team- 23.48 LBS/Brayden Voightman and Hunter Carter/Kountze HS/Boat Captain Buddy Bumstead
After some early morning issues with the bilge pump and some choppy waters, the team from Kountze settled into the Deer Stand area after launching at Jackson Hill where they found the quality of fish to exactly what they needed. "The numbers were not there , but the quality of fish sure were" said Capt. Bumstead. Flipping weightless senko's into the haygrass and buck brush in the 7-12 foot range proved to be the winning formula for the team from Kountze, or at least part of the team. "My grandson Brayden had a baseball game today so he could not make it today, but I think Hunter did just fine by himself" said Capt Bumstead. The team wished to thank all of those who help with the Kountze team and all of the the SETX volunteers who make HS fishing possible.
Second Place- 22.20 LBS/ Hunter Muncrief and Landen Mccary/ West Sabine HS/ Boat Captain William/Muncrief
After their primary spot didn't quite pan out as hoped, the team from West Sabine moved to a main lake point scattered with hay and needle grasses, where they used V&M swim jigs to catch an early limit. The team managed to catch more keepers throughout the day but could not cull any of their early morning catch. "Hunter had a difference maker on about noon that would have helped a lot, but it pulled free in the heavy hay grass" Muncrief added. The team wishes to thank all of their sponsors, including Williamson General Contractors, Anderson's AC, V&M and more.
Third Place- 21.77 LBS/ Kaden Duncan and Randy Abate/ Bridge City HS/ Boat Captain Randy Turner
Rest Of Top Ten
4th Place- 18.81 LBS/ Braden Berryman and Kenneth Pickett/ Kirbyville HS
5th Place- 18.31 LBS/ Brandi Posey and Dakota Posey/ LCM
6th Place- 18.29 LBS/ Kyler Hebert and Ryan Ford/ LCM
7th Place- 17.60 LBS/ Chandler Burgay and Hunter Smith/ Shelby County
8th Place- 16.73 LBS/ Sean Christy and Carson Leasure/ George Ranch HS
9th Place- 16.59 LBS/ Easton Anderson and Ty Cruse/ Lumberton HS
10th Place- 16.55 LBS/ Hunter Nash and Keegan Aurthur/ Evans HS
With the backing and support of sponsors like the South Texas Ford Dealers Association and Skeeter Boats, the SETX HS Fishing Association has emerged as the premiere HS fishing trail in the country.
A huge thank you goes out to all of our SETX sponsors for the 2015-2016 season. The following companies are the reason SETX exists and we cant thank them enough:
Lews, Costa Del Mar, Tackle Addict, Coastal Field Services, Academy, Lowrance, 6th Sense, Livingston Lures, Minn Kota, Rat L Trap, Gopher Industries, Kick N Bass Scents, Clark Reehm and the Elite Angler Academy, Lake Fork Tackle/Rod Sox, Culprit, Big Bite Baits, Ultra Pro X Cameras, Happy Trails RV's, Cowboy Power Sports, Gator Guards, A-1 Glass, Crystal Heigley and the Allman Real Estate Team, Rayburn Country.
For full results, or more information about all of our sponsors, please visit www.setxhighschoolfishing.com or visit our facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/setxhighschoolfishing/
Story by Jet Donovan
